


Just Friends

by rileypotter17



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Just Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:13:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26483977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rileypotter17/pseuds/rileypotter17
Summary: Dany Targaryen unexpectedly moves to a small town outside of Oxford to try and start new when she meets Jorah Mormont. The strike up a friendship, with both of them not able to see how the other truly feels, will they ever turn into something more?
Relationships: Jorah Mormont/Daenerys Targaryen
Comments: 22
Kudos: 24
Collections: Jorleesi Equinox Exchange -Fall 2020





	Just Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [joraerys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/joraerys/gifts).



> Joraerys - I truly hope you enjoy this work. it was so fun and an absolute pleasure to write this. The setting is absolutely inspired by me binge-watching 'Delicious' and my undying love for 'Professor Mormont'.

**Present**

“Good morning, Dany. Long night?”

Dany looked over and saw the man that had occupied her waking thoughts and a few of her dreams during the long he referenced. Nothing scandalous – just them talking – but it was enough of an appearance to make her realize he was becoming increasingly top of mind for her.

“You could say that, yeah...” she felt caught out, knowing that she had on last nights’ makeup and looked a bit worse for wear. Anyone who didn’t know her would surely think she had spent her night doing something else. She was glad he at least knew better. Her new job often resulted in long nights, but the worrying about something she couldn’t tell him yet was what he didn’t know about.

“I don’t know why you rent a room here if you sleep at the hotel most nights.” It was hard to read his tone as he slung his worn leather book bag over his shoulder and opened his car door.

“So that I can see my friend every morning before he goes to work.”

“Is that it, eh?” was all he said before he sat down in the driver’s seat and closed the door. She held her cup of tea up to her lips and watched him pull out of the drive and onto the road.

It was quarter to nine in the morning in Great Milton and the sun was bright and the garden outside of the little white cottage on The Green that Dany rented a room in was alive with butterflies and rabbits and all forms of picturesque countryside things – a far cry from the dumpy flat she left a mere three months ago in South London.

That version of her seemed so far away. She had been struggling to make ends meet bartending at a few different pubs in the city after the path she had worked so hard for was destroyed by her only remaining brother. She had been studying law at King’s College, all set to work at the family firm or aim for something even bigger, when her father passed away unexpectedly and her brother inherited the family funds. He was charged with taking care of her and her education, but he ended up gambling away her tuition money instead. She was left with no choice but to drop out with only a year of studies under her belt and cut ties with her last remaining blood relative, all while still reeling from her father’s untimely death.

At one of her bartending jobs she met Jon Snow, a broody, good-looking man just slightly older than her who was just as pissed off at the world as she was. They fell into a dysfunctional, co-dependent relationship. It was her first experience with adult love beyond boyfriends at the beginning of Uni and while it was exhilarating and tumultuous, they fought like crazy. Dany was guarded and not always affectionate. And Jon was secretive and selfish.

Beyond Jon, Dany had only one friend in the world – a girl she grew up with named Missy, who was now a woman, and had moved out to Oxfordshire to start her path and came into London to visit when she could.

During Missy’s last visit, around four months ago, she desperately tried to talk Dany into moving out there with her and starting fresh. She hated to see her friend cling onto this man who wasn’t doing anything to nurture her dreams. Dany was too stubborn to listen until a month later when she popped into a new bar that had just opened with some coworkers after their shift and she saw Jon with another woman.

She didn’t wait around for an explanation. She wasn’t even sure if he saw her. She threw the few items he kept at her flat into the garbage, chalked up the clothes she left at his place as a loss, paid what she owed the landlord for the remainder of the month, bought a train ticket, and called Missy.

She felt a ridiculous sense of freedom as she sat on the train that night next to a bunch of students headed back to Oxford after a weekend in the city. Jon had made so many decisions for her and now she no longer had to answer to him. She deleted each of his worried texts as they flashed on the screen of her mobile, barely reading them. She knew that if she really loved him, that this would have been a lot harder. But it didn’t mean she wasn’t going to miss his company or know what to do with herself until she got over him fully.

Missy met her at the train station late that same night with warm hug and without judgement, just happy to see her. She also came with an offer. She worked as the Manager at Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, a very posh hotel in Great Milton with one of the best restaurants in Oxford and the discretion of who she wanted to hire for the open mixologist and waitress position

She offered it to Dany knowing full well that she could do it easily. The bars and pubs she had worked in weren’t exactly akin to the Michelin star restaurant at the hotel, but Dany did have a taste for the finer things, at least before her brother ruined the family name, and was a quick study – top of her class in law school before she left.

“You’ll love it here. I know just the place you can rent from, you can start working, and when you are ready – you should go back to school.” Missy had said to her, standing there in a skirt suit – Dany’s same age but looking so much more ‘together’, having finished her degree and landing this impressive gig instead of chasing after some pretty boy with long curly black hair.

Those words and advice from her best friend still filled Dany’s head three months later, even now as she was settled into this new town that was starting to feel like home. In that short time she had turned from the rebellious, angry young woman who had banked too much on her future being secure, to someone with a steady job, a design to go back to pursuing her goals, and _maybe_ someone who was on the verge of falling in love.

Dany was endlessly thankful Missy, not only for being her last lifeline, but for believing in her. But she was busy making sure wealthy people from the city enjoyed their holidays at the hotel and didn’t have much time to help her get settled.

That was when she met Jorah Mormont.

Missy had set Dany up to rent a quaint room in a gorgeous white cottage not too far from the hotel. There were a few others there who rented rooms, but they mostly kept to themselves. The neighboring cottage, however, a nearly identical one but with a dark brown façade, was home to Jorah and she got to know his comings and goings for a few days before she approached him and asked him to show her around.

He was older – in his late forties – and a History of Art Professor at Oxford. From what she discerned, he lived alone, and was a man of few words with a rather terrible fashion sense of slightly too large jumpers and vests that were nevertheless endearingly professorial.

Jorah was a bit reluctant to be friendly with her at first, until he realized through conversation that he knew Missy tangentially through her boyfriend Grey, the Head Cross Country coach at Oxford - and for the fact that he sometimes visited the bar at Le Manoir as it was just a short walk up a hill from where they both lived off of Thames road. But, he would never outright admit that the real reason he hesitated to talk to her at first because just seeing her walk into his garden would make him feel things he hadn’t in years.

**Two and a half months ago**

“What are you doing?”

Dany asked the question with her arms crossed and watched as Jorah grimaced and tightened the back wheel of a bicycle. He was kneeling on the ground of his small garage and she knew he knew she was there, but he didn’t respond for a long moment.

Since she had met him, she had started to walk the twenty steps to his house on weekend mornings, making this the second set of such instances. She found she liked seeing him on the weekends, where he was always dressed more casually than the days when he went into the city to teach.

“Jorah...”

“Impatient, are we?” he finally conceded to her conversation attempts and looked up at her, wiping his hands off from grease with a rag. “This was supposed to be a bit of a surprise...” he gestured at the bike. It clearly wasn’t new. There were chips in the red paint of the body, but the work he had done on it was easy to see.

“For me?”

“You don’t have a car and frankly, I’m sick of carting your arse around, even if it has only been a week.” He smiled just a little and she could tell by the lightness in his eyes that he wasn’t put out by her constantly asking for rides to the grocery or to her new job. “It won’t get you into the city, but it will do for around here and for the hill up to the hotel. You do know how to ride one don’t you?”

Dany laughed nervously, “Obviously.”

Jorah stood up and started to push the bike out of his garage and down towards the lane, “Well come on then...”

She followed and when he turned the handles of the bike over to her, she hesitated. She hadn’t ridden one since she was a tot and even then, it had training wheels. “So, you can’t stand being around me _that_ much that you spent hours you could have been sleeping this morning repairing an old bike for me...”

She was stalling, but also curious. It has only been a week, but she thought he had enjoyed their short car rides together, with him pointing out the parish and different neighbors’ houses he knew of and generally getting her familiar with the little village and slightly beyond it.

“I don’t think you can ride a bike...” he frowned as she still hadn’t attempted to get on it, and he completely ignored her question.

Dany sighed and straddled the bike. She wobbled a bit and tried to remind herself that this was a skill that was supposed to come back to her. _It had to or she’d look like an idiot._ She placed one foot on a pedal and pushed off with the other. It tested her balance, but once she was in motion, she was able to ride slowly down the lane for a few moments before circling back towards him with a triumphant smile, happy that she hadn’t embarrassed herself.

“Can you answer my question?” she pushed a stray lock of blonde hair away that had fallen into her eyes.

“Dany, if you ever need a ride into the city, I’m happy to take you. But I thought this might give you a little independence around here. It’s only an old bike and a bit of elbow grease. Just a gift from a friend.” He ended and looked down at the ground and she felt her heart sink involuntarily.

“I appreciate it. Thank you.” She nodded. When she had woken up that morning, she had planned on asking him to grab lunch with her in the village and show her the second-hand book shop she had been dying to visit. But after his answer, she figured he might want his Saturday to himself. “I’ll see you later.”

Jorah started to say something, but she had already taken off on the bike down the lane and this time she didn’t turn back.

**One and a half months ago**

“Is Dany here?” Jorah asked. It was half-past eight on a Monday night and Missy looked at the professor from across the concierge desk at the Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons with an amused half-grin. As the senior manager of the 5-star boutique hotel, she lived there and spent all of her waking hours working except for her few blessed days off every other week. And part of that work meant making sure Dany was being trained quickly and proficiently to take over as the full-time mixologist and part-time waitress when someone needed a shift covered. She had been excelling, as Missy knew she would. Her friend was smart, personable, and was already fitting in just fine.

“She should be behind the bar. It isn’t the busiest night.” Missy told Jorah softly, “Do you need me to get her?”

“No...no. I’ll just go have a drink.” He nodded to her and from memory walked through the lobby, took a left turn, and into the dining room.

The Belmond restaurant was a gem in Little Milton and the surrounding villages. Its Michelin star status meant that people travelled in from London to eat there as well and he had his fair share of meals there whenever the humanities departments at Oxford had a celebratory luncheon or were wining and dining a potential new tenured position. But tonight, his plans didn’t revolve around dinner.

She was on his mind all the time as of late. When they had first met, admittedly his attempts at showing her around the village were self-serving, as he wanted to spend more time with her. He felt they had built up a friendship, but now he felt himself seeking her out and looking forward to each next conversation. He also felt that his attempt at a present in the form of a bike was a bit misguided. He meant it to help her, but she seemed saddened by it, which wasn’t his intent.

He had visited her once here before in the first days of her job and had a drink under the guise of her being new and him wanting to support her. But the look he and Missy had just shared confirmed to him that he wasn’t as subtle as he was trying to be.

He walked past the romantic, candle-lit tables that weren’t all full and towards the bar. Everything in the restaurant was cozy and provincial, and just modern enough to appeal to those from larger cities. He took a seat towards one end of the bar and saw that Dany was the only one staffing it. There was a young couple she was mixing drinks for, who both couldn’t take their starry eyes off one another. But Jorah he couldn’t take his eyes off _her_ as he watched her hands squeeze a half a lime into a drink before placing it in front of them. Her long blonde hair was tied back, and she didn’t wear the uniform the rest of the waiters and waitresses did. Instead, she had on a simple black dress.

He was thankful for the small reprieve to watch her before she noticed him and once the others were taken care of, she walked straight over towards him and leaned her elbows on her side of the bar counter and smiled conspiratorially. “Did Missy send you as a spy?”

“Oh no...I came on my own. Completely willing and ready to pay an exorbitant amount for one of these fancy drinks.”

“How was class?” she asked. She knew his schedule pretty well by now, in the same way he knew hers. His slightly too large brown corduroy blazer also gave away that he had been at work.

“Let’s just say some of them weren’t happy with their recent term paper grades.” Jorah laughed a bit and so did she.

“So, you clearly need a drink.”

“Very much so. Dealer’s choice.”

She raised an eyebrow and then went to work. She felt she had a handle on what he might like and set about making an old-fashioned with a twist she had been working on.

“I hope you tip well because it has been excruciatingly slow tonight and those two...” she cocked her head back over to the couple at the other end of the bar who were giggling, “are lightweights.”

“It always depends on the service, really.” There was a hint of playfulness in his voice and it made Dany smiled as she eyeballed the mixture of whiskey and bitters, trusting in her senses and confident it would be perfect.

“Here...” she presented her concoction to him and he eyed it with suspicion.

“Not as over-the-top as I hoped for.” He frowned.

She put her hands on her hips, “Just taste it.”

Jorah took a sip of the drink and she watched his face carefully. He had a poker face she wasn’t used to – her emotions were always written across hers. After a few moments, he went back in for another sip and smiled, “It’s good.” She couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved.

“Just good?”

“It’s _very_ good...I just...is this what you want?”

Dany looked around the bar, back at the couple that were in their own little world, and then at the quieting dining room before turning back to him, “I’m sorry?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, almost sheepishly, but continued, “Why would you come here of all places from London to make cocktails?”

“I like making cocktails.”

“Do you?

“I’m good at it.”

“Dany...but is it what you want? I’ve seen you every day for over a month since you arrived, and I still hardly know you.”

“You haven’t asked the questions until now, that isn’t my fault.” She became terse with him. She liked their easy-going friendship and didn’t understand this sudden line of questioning. She liked that he hadn’t pried into her past and had accepted her the way she was, until now.

“I’m asking them now, aren’t I? But if you don’t want to say I understand...” Jorah backed off, clearly seeing that he had upset her.

“ _Dany_...”

She looked over and saw the chef pop out of the kitchen and call for her and she walked towards him. Jorah noted how good-looking he was, and the way he placed a hand on her back as he talked to her. It upset him and he could lie all he wanted to himself about why it did, but what would be the use? He grabbed his wallet, pulling out a few quid and placing it on the bar before shooting back the rest of the drink and leaving. He was no good at this.

**One month earlier**

It was past midnight on a Saturday night and Dany had just finished a busy shift. She walked out of the service entrance to the restaurant to where her red bike was leaning up against an ivy-covered brick wall – the spot she always parked it. She had a bottle of red wine in one hand – a gift given to all of the staff on duty that night – and her heels in the other. She relished the slightly uncomfortable sensation of the cobblestones under her bare, weary feet as the stones massaged them. She placed the wine and her shoes in the sturdy wire basket on the bike.

Dany hadn’t felt this much like herself in a long time. She was well-fed from samples off the new tasting menu that she and some of the other staff had chances to grab at throughout the night, and she was ever-so-slightly buzzed from spending the last hour trying sips of new cocktail creations she was whipping up as the crowd wound down and either headed out or headed up to their plush hotel rooms to sleep. It had been a mostly good night, until a man sat down at the bar that looked so much like her ex, Jon, that she did multiple double-takes before working up the nerve to go over to him.

She was thankful it turned out just to be a look-alike, but it sent her mind reeling back to her old life that seemed so far away in London and the new life that was blossoming here at the hotel and with her best friend and with... _him_.

Jorah.

It had been two weeks since he had visited her at the bar and left suddenly without her getting to say goodbye. For the most part, things returned to normal between them, with them saying _‘hello’_ in the mornings and her doing things with him on the weekends – even if it was just grocery shopping. She was finding that those were the best parts of her week and that she was thinking about him more and more. However, he hadn’t once tried to broach the conversation of that night again, and it created something between them that she wished would go away.

But even now, when she was exhausted and it was much too late, she wanted to see him.

She walked the bike across the cobblestone path near the rose gardens until the wheels met the smoother lane. She hopped on and coasted down the hill that lead from the hotel down to the Green, where she and Jorah lived. It was only a five-minute trek, but instead of quietly sneaking into her house and trying not to wake up the others that rented rooms there, she parked her bike against Jorah’s garage, grabbed the bottle of wine, and, encouraged by the light on inside, shining through the thin curtain, knocked on his door.

It took a moment, but she then heard some movement from inside and the door opened. A very disheveled looking Jorah stood in front of her. His hair was quirked up on one side, confirming he had been asleep, and he had on a faded Oxford sweatshirt and sweatpants, the latter of which were form fitting enough that she had to consciously stop her eyes from drifting.

“Dany... _what the hell_?” he grumbled and then wiped a hand over his face, clearly trying to wake himself up, “Sorry...I had fallen asleep watching television.”

“What a wild Saturday night.”

“Is something wrong?” He asked, the sleep seeped out of his voice and he appeared more alert now. She showed him the bottle of wine.

“Maybe it wasn’t my best idea to wake you up after midnight, but I just got off work and I can’t drink this all alone. Well... _I could_...but I don’t want to.” She looked up at him hopefully and he nodded and let her inside.

She had been in his small garden and garage before, but never inside his house. It was warm and absolutely filled with books. Every available wall had a bookshelf and there were some on the floor as well in neat stacks. He had some lived-in leather furniture and it was fairly masculine, with very few personal pictures up and those that were, were of him and friends. It confirmed what she had hoped – that he wasn’t in some sort of relationship. She had never spied a wedding ring on his hand and they never talked about it, but he could have had a long-distance girlfriend somewhere. It made her happy.

“Make yourself at home,” Jorah said. He clicked off the television that was playing a game-show re-run and went into the kitchen to grab two glasses and a corkscrew. She sat down on one of the leather chairs and sank comfortably into it by the time he walked back out of the kitchen and opened the bottle.

“I’m sorry for coming over so unexpectedly,” Dany apologized as he handed her a glass of wine and sat down on the couch opposite of her.

“I’ve learned in the short time I’ve known you how unexpected you can be. And I tend towards being a light sleeper anyways. No apology necessary.” Jorah smiled. He looked considerably more awake now but still comfortable. “What’s on your mind, Dany?”

She took a long sip of her wine, “What isn’t on my mind should be the question.” She gave him a wan smile back, “Do you ever just feel lost?”

“You don’t like your job?” Jorah ventured and she shook her head and they were both silent for a moment. “Dany, you showed up in this tiny village a few months ago, moved into a room next door and somehow became my only non-professor... _friend_.”

She saw the way he paused before he said ‘friend’ and how he struggled saying it, as if it were a foreign word on his tongue.

“And now I actually go out on the weekends and have impromptu wine nights because of you,” he smiled, tilting his glass towards her in a gesture of ‘cheers’, “But I still know next to nothing about you.”

“You aren’t exactly an open book either...” she countered.

“We aren’t talking about me,” he frowned and she crossed her arms, finding his desire to turn the conversation back on her stubborn and frustrating, “My life is on my CV on the Oxford History of Art webpage, all there for you to see.”

“That doesn’t tell me the whole story.” Dany argued back, finishing her glass and reaching for the bottle to pour another. His hand beat her to it and poured it for her, their fingers overlapping for a moment.

“I’ll tell you why I’m here if you tell me why you are.” He proposed and started in on his second glass as well. The dark merlot was starting to stain the inside of both of their lips.

Dany took a deep breath and looked at her hands. “I’m here because my father died and my brother is a piece of shit and left me without a way to pay my law school tuition in London. I worked in restaurants and pubs to make ends meet and met a guy who was the absolute worst for me. And... _well_...it didn’t work out. I’ve known Missy for a while and she suggested I come here and work at the hotel and clear my head. And you just happened to be the only neighbor who would talk to me...”

Jorah nodded as he listened, intrigued at the vulnerability she was sharing with him for this brief moment and also wanting to help. She had brought something to look forward to into his life other than his academic persona on campus, and he appreciated that more than he could articulate. “Dany...if you want to continue your studies, I can have you meet with the Chair of the Law Department and maybe there is some sort of scholarship...”

“ _No_.” She cut him off harshly and then looked up at him with softer, apologetic eyes, “I mean, _no thank you_. I don’t want help in that way and if I do go back to school, I want to earn it.” She told him. She didn’t say that all the money she was making at the hotel was going towards that very goal. She’d get there soon, even if it wasn’t as soon as she hoped.

“I understand. I just think you are smart and that you probably don’t want to live in Great Milton forever...” he tried to bring some levity back to their conversation.

“Maybe I do. I have Missy, I have my bike now, and I have you...” she smiled and was now dangerously close to her third glass of wine. At the rate they were sipping and talking, they would need more soon. “Now...that was my life story, so tell me yours...”

“It was an abridged version...” he noted, “So that is all you’ll be getting from me. I grew up in Scotland – went to school and studied art, was rubbish at it, so started teaching the history of it. I had a lot of luck and bounced around at a few Universities in Scotland. I met my ex-wife at my last job and let’s just say that the ending of that was so bad that I changed locales altogether and one of my old friends, who is now a colleague, told me about a position here in Oxford about 3 years ago. And I’ve never looked back.”

“What happened between the two of you?” Dany probed. The wine was going to her head and when she reached for more, the bottle merely supplied her with a few last drops.

“We both weren’t good at being in relationships. She wasn’t loyal and well...I’m single-minded and stubborn and I probably spend too much time reading for my own good, even for a professor.” Jorah said with a finality in his tone that expressed he wasn’t interested in answering any more questions about his ex. “More wine? I think I have a few bottles somewhere...”

Dany nodded as he stood up and she watched him open a few cupboards before returning with another bottle. She felt a little sleepy now, and relaxed enough to tuck her legs up underneath herself in the chair.

“What happened between you and your ex?” He asked and she didn’t begrudge him it. It was only fair after her question.

“He cheated on me and made me doubt myself. I wasn’t the person I used to be when I was with him. Missy saw it...but I didn’t realize it until much later.” She admitted.

Jorah wanted to tell her that he couldn’t believe a man in this world would cheat on her. He wasn’t blind – even if he tried to push it out of his mind since he first met her, anyone with eyes could see how singularly stunning she was. But beyond that, she was funny, intelligent, and opinionated. “Do you feel like you are that person again?"

“I’m getting there.”

“One more glass?”

“One more glass.”

**Two weeks earlier**

“ _You are going to do fine...just be yourself. I’m so proud of you...”_ Missy’s voice on the other end of the phone was threatened with being drowned out by the din of people at the hotel, “ _I have to go - a party of twelve just checked-in. Good luck_!”

Dany hung up the phone and placed it in her bag as she sat on a bench near the admissions office at Oxford Law School. It was about ten minutes out from her interview time and she tugged at the blazer she was wearing that she borrowed from Missy, who had a decidedly more adult wardrobe than she did. She hadn’t told anyone about this except her best friend, and she hadn’t told Jorah. She had simply asked him for a ride into the city that morning so she could check out a few of the shops. She kept her blazer and her nice shirt folded neatly and tucked into her large bag until she got to the campus and found a place to change. She wanted to tell him so badly, especially after she had opened up to him at his house at midnight two weeks prior. That night had ended with them both not so steadily walking the twenty feet back to her cottage and a quiet goodnight. There wasn’t anything spectacular about it, save the wine-headache she woke up with the next morning, except she felt like their bond had strengthened and the feelings that were brewing for him had only gotten stronger. Still – she wanted to do this on her own. She wasn’t financially in a position to apply until the next term, but she didn’t want to let any of the knowledge she had already acquired dwindle even further.

She had copies of her transcripts from King’s College in her hands and was mentally going over questions they might ask and how she might answer when she caught sight of Jorah. He was far off – maybe fifty meters or so, but she recognized his gait and the same brown corduroy blazer he always wore as she watched him head into the Bodleian.

By the way her heart started to pick up pace that she knew didn’t have anything to do with her impending interview, it confirmed she was falling for him just as she feared she might. Missy had been pressing her if she had a crush on him for weeks now and she always staunchly denied it.

_She was allowed to find him very attractive but still consider him a friend. That could happen without consequences, right?_

All she knew was that if this went well today...and she had no idea if it would...he was the first person that came to mind that she wanted to tell. She wanted to see his proud smile and feel him hug her – something that she had yet to feel but thought about constantly.

Looking at her phone once more to check the time, she grabbed her bag and walked into the admissions office, hoping for the best.

**Present**

_“I don’t know why you rent a room here if you sleep at the hotel most nights.”_

_“So that I can see my friend every morning before he goes to work.”_

Jorah thought about the brief words he and Dany had exchanged that morning on his drive to work and kept replaying her use of the word ‘friend’. They had used that word so much with each other, almost to the point of it being excessive. What they had was beyond any friendship he knew of, even if there was no traditional intimacy, but yet they kept it measured by labeling it ‘friendship’. He was tired of it.

And he knew he had been different with her for the past week or so, but he was slightly annoyed with her. Three times now she had asked for rides into the city, where he would drop her off at a café or a museum or a bookstore before heading to campus. But she never asked for a ride home even though they had exchanged cell numbers and he promised it was not a burden. He enjoyed the twenty-minute rides with her, but she was starting to seem distant and he couldn’t figure out why.

And after the time she had come over to his house with a bottle of wine after one of her late shifts, he started to stay up a bit later, just in case she decided to come again. He would often check around midnight to see if her bike was leaning against the white cottage across the lawn from his, but more and more frequently, she ended up sleeping in an empty guest room up at the hotel. He didn’t want to seem paranoid, but part of him felt she was avoiding him.

And it hurt...because in three short months she had become the most welcome and happiest part of his life.

“’Morning Jorah.” Davos, Jorah’s best friend and colleague from the History department greeted him as he walked into the humanities building. His friend had just arrived as well and they walked together to the second floor, where both of their offices were. “What’s bothering you?”

Jorah sometimes hated how intuitive his friend was. He had been slowly opening up to him over the weeks about Dany, but never completely revealing his feelings, although he suspected his friend knew. “It’s _her_...”

“Ah..I should have known...” Davos smiled good-naturedly, “Why don’t you just tell her how you feel about her already?”

They walked into Davos’ office and he set his bag down. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that...” Jorah said, trying to sound sterner than it came out.

“You can’t lie to me, Jorah. I’ve seen you through your best and worst... _you like her_. She makes you happy. I can see the difference.” Davos shrugged, pulling out a few books from his bag.

“She’s fifteen years younger than me, far too beautiful, and has been distant...and besides that, I don’t want to ruin a friendship.” Jorah reasoned.

“Excuses all around. You are not dead, Mormont. You are a good-looking guy and you deserve another chance at love if you can take it. I know what you went through before wasn’t ideal, and even though you can be a stubborn pain in the arse, I’d think you’d be a fool if you didn’t try with this girl.”

“I just can’t get a read on her...” Jorah sighed.

“Imagine how she feels. I’ve known you for twenty years and I am only now able to crack inside your thick head a bit.” Davos laughed, “Now come on...ask her to do something with you this weekend...and no, grocery shopping doesn’t count. A real date.”

“A real date with Dany Targaryen... _as if I could be so lucky_...” Jorah shook his head. Davos stood up suddenly.

“What’s her surname again?”

“Targaryen...unusual, I know...”

“I doubt there is more than one Miss Targaryen out there. I had a conversation with Olenna yesterday who said she did the final round interview for a Miss Targaryen for the jurisprudence program and said she was the brightest she’d seen in a long while. So much so that she’s taking her on as a teaching assistant in her law course.” Davos relayed.

“This was yesterday, you said?” Jorah asked, suddenly very distracted.

“Yes...Olenna said she was going to call the girl today and let her know she was admitted herself. Did Dany say anything to you about the interviews?”

“No...I... _thank you_... I’m late for a meeting – I’ll talk to you later.” Jorah nodded to his friend before hastily walking out of the office. It now suddenly made sense why she had asked him for the rides and why she was being quiet about it. She wanted to do this alone...and now she had...and his deep fear of her leaving their little village and this countryside life disappeared. She would be at Oxford. _She would stay_.

**Six hours later**

When Jorah pulled into the driveway after work, a little later than he had hoped for, but full of determination, he quickly checked for Dany’s bike. With no sign of it, he knew she had to be on her way to work. There had been a bit of construction that had set him back a few minutes coming in from Oxford, but he knew he could still catch her. He took off up the hill, breaking into a half-jog when he saw the hotel come into view.

His heart raced as he saw the cars and people milling about, eagerly awaiting to check-in for their weekend away or to enjoy their dinner and he hurriedly walked through the gardens towards the service area of the restaurant where he knew she parked her bike.

As he rounded a corner around an old brick building, he caught a glimpse of her blonde hair and her leaning the bike up against the wall. She had only been a few minutes ahead of him.

“Dany...” he called out to her and she turned, a look of confusion washing over her when she saw him.

“Jorah...what are you doing here... _did you run here_?” she asked him and he nodded, still catching his breath. He had taken off his blazer as he had jogged up the hill and though he was fit, he wasn’t used to going at that pace in dress shoes and trousers.

“You got into Oxford.”

“ _How_...”

“Dany...you got into Oxford Law. _Do you know how hard that is_?” Jorah asked and she stood there, her eyes wide, “And you did it. Without me. Without anyone but yourself and I am so incredibly proud...”

She broke into a smile, “I did. I got into Oxford.” It was the first time she had said it aloud. The Chair of the Law department had called her not an hour before and gave her the good news, along with the update of a hefty scholarship and a teaching assistantship. She had been bubbling over with joy and hadn’t told anyone yet. “Jorah, _I got into Oxford_!”

She didn’t care that she was going to be late to her shift, she launched herself into his arms and felt them wrap around her for the first time. He was strong and warm and hugged her tightly, as if he was afraid she might slip away.

“You aren’t leaving.” He sighed. She could sense there was relief in his voice.

“I never said I was,” she laughed a little, confused as she pulled away from him.

“I know...but... _Dany_...I have something to say to you.” His tone was serious and her stomach started to twist in anticipation, “I know we are friends. But it’s becoming apparent that everyone else sees something that I have been desperately trying to hide. And maybe you’ve already seen through me too. But I like you.”

Dany felt like she couldn’t breathe for a moment as she heard his words. It didn’t feel real and at the same time it scared her. She wasn’t ready to admit to herself how head over heels she was for him and that she never thought he would feel the same. But there he was, his blue eyes sincere. She had to dive into the unknown too.

“I guess we have both been blind, because I’m surprised you couldn’t see how much I like you. I really... _really like you_ and I’m not leaving Little Milton or Oxford, but I really hope I can leave my little room in the cottage next to yours.” She smiled hopefully.

“No more sleeping there and no more sleeping here,” he gestured to the hotel. “Not if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah?”

“Dany, _yes_. I’ve felt like I was running for a long time. I ran away after my divorce and came here, and I figured I would be running to some place new again before too long. But then you came and made me want to stay.”

She stepped forward again, closing the space between them and placing her hands on his chest, “I’m going to be late for work.” It was all she could think to say – the truth, even though she had no desire to go in there with everything she wanted to tell him and how much she wanted to stay in that moment with him.

“I’ll put in a word with your manager, alright?” Jorah said playfully and placed his hands gently around the back of her neck and her waist and pulled her even closer into a gentle kiss. They held each other for a long while, on the brink of something new and something more, together.


End file.
